Prince Varmint (or Prince Violent)
Prince Violent, later re-issued as Prince Varmint, is a 1961 Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam directed by Friz Freleng and his longtime layout artist Hawley Pratt. Title The title is a play on the comic strip character "Prince Valiant." Plot A Viking named Sam the Terrible is rowing upriver towards a castle, and he is noticed by two people on a nearby riverbank, who retreat to the castle sensing an invasion. As he passes by Bugs Bunny's hole, Bugs peeks out and thinks that Sam's outfit is that of an "electric can opener broken loose". As Bugs sees Sam enter the castle, Bugs takes it upon himself to fight Sam. In Bugs' first confronting Sam, who is trying to get the locals to come out, Bugs calls Sam's outfit a Halloween costume, and takes the sword from Sam and dulls it, rendering it useless, and kicks Sam out of the castle. Sam tries to re-enter, only to see the horns of his cap get stuck in the castle door. In the meantime, Bugs paints a door on the castle walls to trick Sam, and Sam (this time with the help of a pink elephant) tries to break the "door" down, only to instead knock in some of the stones where the door was painted. Next, Sam, with the help of the elephant, is catapulting rocks over the castle walls. Bugs sees an opportunity to ruin Sam's plans and pours pepper on the elephant, making him sneeze a rock right into Sam, flattening him. Thinking that Sam has retreated, Bugs asks for the bridge to be lowered. Sam, however, reappears and tries to cross the bridge with the elephant, but the elephant is so heavy that Sam and the elephant both fall through into the moat. Sam then decides to try to sail in the back way (using the elephant's belly as a boat) to enter via the back. Bugs, however, notices this and while Sam is sailing, he plugs the elephant's nose with a cork, forcing him back to land for air and forcing Sam to use his hat to sail back to shore, where he chases away the pink elephant. Frustrated, Sam tries to mine his way into the castle under one of the towers, only to have the tower pancake onto him. After this attempt fails, Sam attempts to blow open the castle door with TNT. When Sam tries to leave, however, the drawbridge has been raised and Sam is forced to wait with the lit explosives. After the door blows open, Sam rushes in, only to meet the elephant that he chased away earlier, now on Bugs' side. The elephant chases Sam with a hammer to chase him away. Bugs comments about what can be accomplished with peanuts, as the elephant chews on some as the cartoon fades out. Gallery Trivia Censorship and retitling *This cartoon has been retitled Prince Varmint due to the intimidating title for TV broadcast versions on ABC, CBS, Fox, Cartoon Network, the syndicated "Merrie Melodies" show and the former WB! Channel, On a 1992 episode of "The Merrie Melodies Show", the original title card showing a Viking ship with the title on the sail was replaced with a title card where Bugs Bunny (in Viking garb) is sitting on the side of a castle along with new credits being issued. The intro and outro cards were also replaced with 1958 opening cards, the 1957 "Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" and 1953 closing cards. *In addition to the above cut, the ABC version also edits the part where Bugs pulls up the drawbridge and leaves Yosemite Sam stranded on the castle's doorstep with a pile of dynamite by replacing the scene with a repeat shot of Sam running away from the explosion (though the shot of Sam looking disheveled after the explosion was left intact (NICKTOONS AIRS THAT SAME PRINT, BUT THE ORIGIONAL PRINCE VIOLRNT TITLES, THE INTRO WITH BUGS BUNNY WITH THE LOONEY TUNES 1955-1964 INTRO THEME CUE, AND THE PRINCE VIOLENT PRINT ENDING CREDITS WITH THE 1955-1964 ENDING THEME CUE). External links * * Prince Violent at SuperCartoons.net * http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/ltcuts/p Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Merrie Melodies shorts Category:Merrie Melodies Category:Bugs Bunny Category:Bugs Bunny shorts Category:Yosemite Sam Category:Yosemite Sam shorts Category:Bugs and Sam shorts Category:Directed by Friz Freleng Category:1961 Category:1961 shorts Category:1961 films Category:1960s Category:1960s shorts Category:1960s films Category:DePatie-Freleng Enterprises Category:DePatie-Freleng shorts Category:Vitaphone short films Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:Shorts Category:Films Category:Animated shorts Category:Warner Bros. shorts Category:Vitagraph Studios short films Category:Music by Milt Frankyln Category:Orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons orchestrated by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons with music by Milt Franklyn Category:Animated by Art Davis Category:Animation by Art Davis Category:Cartoons animated by Art Davis Category:Animated by Arthur Davis Category:Animation by Arthur Davis Category:Cartoons animated by Arthur Davis Category:Voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Voice Characterizations by Mel Blanc Category:Voices by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with voices by Mel Blanc Category:Animated by Gerry Chiniquy Category:Animation by Gerry Chiniquy Category:Cartoons animated by Gerry Chiniquy Category:Animated by Virgil Ross Category:Animation by Virgil Ross Category:Cartoons animated by Virgil Ross Category:Backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin Category:Film Editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Sound Effects by Treg Brown